To the Editor,
For a moment, put aside the important debates currently facing our nation and consider what needs to be done to save the sinking ship of Connecticut. For the past eight years we have lived through a dismal period of tremendous budget shortfalls, multiple tax increases, little to no economic growth and the departure of high tax-paying residents. Our state has one of the three highest tax burdens in the country.
The one bright light has been the work of our current delegation of State Senator Scott Frantz, Rep. Mike Bocchino, Rep. Fred Camillo and Rep. Livvy Floren. As co-chairs and minority ranking members of important committees, they have recently been instrumental in preventing new tax increases, lowering the estate tax, implementing strong spending and borrowing caps, stopping further reductions in education aid, and preventing (three times) Governor Mallory from withdrawing approved state funding for New Lebanon School.
The candidates running against Senator Frantz, Rep. Bocchino and Rep. Camillo have no expe-rience whatsoever with state financial issues or the politics of Hartford. They have no experi-ence writing and pushing through bills that will make our state stronger. It will take years for them to reach the level of influence that our incumbents have attained.
We should focus not on who is Republican or Democrat, man or woman but solely on who can turn this state around now. Livvy Floren, Scott Frantz, Mike Bocchino, and Fred Camillo have the proven experience to get things done and turn Connecticut into a state we can be proud to call home.
Marc V. Johnson
Former Member of the BET and Chair of the Budget Committee
